Vietnam and the World Bank signed an agreement Friday on a US$200 million credit to provide local rural communities with safe water and hygienic sanitation.

According to a press release from the bank, the initiative will benefit 2.35 million people in eight Red River Delta provinces, which have problems with water quality and low access to sustainable water supplies and sanitation services.

The Australian Agency for International Development has also committed to providing eight million Australian dollars ($8.24 million) in the form of technical assistance for the program, known as Vietnam's National Target Program for Rural Water Supply and Sanitation.

Financing for the program will be verifiable, according to the dominant global lender, adding that the Vietnamese program will have its results verified independently by the State Audit of Vietnam.